Shaving device



April 4,1939. M. ANDlS ET AL SHAVING DEVICE Filed Feb. 6, 1957 1NV ENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES SHAVING DEVICE Mathew Andis and Matthew G. Andig, Jr., Racine, Wis.

Application February 6, 1937, Serial No. 124,417

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shaving devices.

The invention relates more particularly to shaving devices of the type having a reciprocating cutter, driven by an electric motqr or other suitable means, and movable beneath a slotted face engaging part, whereby the device may be used without soap or other beard softening agent to greatly facilitate the shaving operation.

It is desirable in shaving devices of this type to utilize a slotted comb member, extending at an angle from the fixed cutter or top face engaging portion, for the purpose of picking up and straightening out the hair on the face and for properly guiding the hair to cutting position. In the majority of dry shavers this comb is formed in side walls which are integral with the top of the head and which extend downwardly therefrom, the upper portions of these side walls being formed with slots which communicate with the slots of the top portion of the head. With this arrangement, due to the fact that the side walls forming the comb are integral with the edges of the top portion, there is necessarily a and extreme thinness is always desirable, as it effects the closeness of the shave. Furthermore where integral side walls extend downwardly from the top of the head and join a lower portion of the head, the cut hair is confined between said side walls making it necessary to clean the shaving head after use.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved shaving device wherein the 5 slotted edge of the fixed cutter is free and of extreme thinness, and wherein a separate comb member is employed, which comb member is so supported that its lower edge is free whereby there is no obstruction to prevent cut hair from 40 falling exteriorly of the shaving head.

' A ,more specific object of the invention is to provide a shaving device wherein the comb member is supported at its opposite ends only by means which is so secured to the head as to cause no obstruction to the cut hair or to other parts of the device.

A still more specific object of the invention is to provide a'device of the class described, wherein thecoi'nb member forms one edge of an open frame, which frame is secured adjacent to the fixed cutter to properly support the comb member in sl ghtly spaced position from the free edge of said fixed cutter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shaving device wherein flexible sealing limit to the thinness of the metal at these edges,

means on the handle engages the lower portion of the reciprocable cutter to prevent cut hair from entering beneath said cutter.

' With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved shaving device 5 and all its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, in which the same reference numetals designate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the shaving device with the cover portion of the handle removed;

Fig. 2 is a-fragmentary side view of the shaving 15 device on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a view' looking at the top of the shaving head also on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view looking at the bottom of the shaving head, parts being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line. 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the comb supporting frame alone, looking at the bottom of said frame.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 8 designates a hollow handle portion formed of any suitable material forming a housing for an electromagnet 9, which magnet is adapted to vibrate an armature II), the arma- 30 ture having one end pivotally-supported as at H and having its other end suitably connected to a T-shaped bracket l2, which bracket is secured to the bottom of a reciprocable cutter l0. Suitable yielding means may be connected to the armature such as the S-shapedspring I 4 having one end secured to the armature adjacent the free end thereof as at l5 and having its other end securedto an inner wall of the handle as at It. For the purpose of urging the movable cutter into close contact with the lower side of the face engaging member or fixed cutter, a leaf spring I! may be employed, which spring has one end fixedly connected to the handle and its other end loose andengageable with the lower side of the cutter in an elongated recess l8. The handle portion may be closed by a removable cover IS, in any desired manner, which cover has its end edge recessed to receive an elongated strip of felt or other flexible material 20'. The felt engages the lower side of the movable cutter as clearly shown in Fig. 2 to thereby form a seal for preventing cut hair from working beneath the cuter into the handle portion.

The fixed cutter or face engaging member 20 with a plurality of minute inwardly extending slots 23. These slots are preferably no wider than is necessary to accommodate one or two hairs. The fixed cutter or face engaging member preferably has the cross-sectional shape 11- lustrated in Fig. 5.

The free edge of the movable cutter member I3 is formed with a plurality of spaced cutting teeth M which are movable below the slots 23 of the face engaging member 20 adjacent the.

free edge of said face engaging member. When the electromagnet 9 is energized the movable cutter is reciprocated at a very rapid rate to cause shearing of hair extending through the slots 23 of the face engaging member. By having the edge of the face engaging member free, it is possible to grind said edge down to extreme thinness. Thus the teeth of the movable cutter will move very close to the skin to effect a close shave.

It is desirable to also utilize a comb in ad- Vance of the free edge of the face engaging member. Thiscomb member presentsla smooth surface to the face and protects it from the sharp free edge of the face engaging member.

The comb member is also slotted to pick up and straighten out the hair on the face and to guide said hair into the slots 23 of the face engaging member. Heretofore the majority of shaving devices have had integral side portions extending from the .edge of the fixed cutter downwardly therefrom and joining a lower portion of the head. These side walls have been slotted with slots communicating with the slots of the fixed cutter to .thereby form the comb. With this arrangement, however, there must always be sufficient thinness of metal at the edge of the face engaging member to join said edge to the depending side. Therefore in this type of device the edge of the face engaging member cannot be ground down to the thinness that is possible with the present invention wherein the edge of the face engaging'member is free. Furthermore with these prior constructions, the side portions forming the comb formed a trap for the.

cut hair, making it necessary to clean the device after use. It has heretofore been attempted to form .the comb memberseparate from the top face engaging member. However, in these prior constructions the method of supporting the comb always trapped the cut hair, which resulted in a matting of said out hair adjacent the movable cutter, thereby affecting the efliciency of the device and necessitating frequent cleaning.

With the present invention the comb member is so supported as to form no obstruction for the cut hair, whereby said out hair may fall freely exteriorly of the device. Referring more particularly to Fig. 6, the comb or guard member 24 forms one edge of an open frame 25, and said comb member depends at an angle from the major plane of said frame 25. The upper edge of the comb member may be slotted as at 28 by slots which are substantially the same width as the slots 23 of the face engaging member and which serve to pick up and straighten out the hair on the face and guide the same into the slots 23. The teeth 21 between the slots on the .comb have their ends rounded to present a smooth surface to the face. The frame member 25 also includes side portions 28 provided with downwardly extending flanges 29 and a rear portion 30 having apertures 3| therein.

The frame is preferably secured above the face engaging member in the manner shown in Fig. 3 by a bolt 32 extending through the aperture 3| into a portion of the face engaging member 20. The flange portions 29 of the frame are formed with tongues 33, which tongues flt below the fixed cutter or face engaging member in the manner shown in Fig. 4, to 'holdthe comb member in properly adjusted position so asto protdde -a uniform space of approximately one-thirt second of an inch between the comb member and c the free edge of the face engaging member.

With this method of supporting the comb member, it will be seen that the lower edge 34 thereof is entirely free and extends only a short distance below the lower surface of the cutting teeth I! (see Fig. 5). Thus all cut hair is free to fall from between the teeth l4 exteriorly of the device, as the comb does not extend down sufliciently far to interfere with said out hair or to trap the same.

Other methods may be devised within the scope of this invention for supporting the comb member to provide a free'lower edge therefor, and there is a common subject matter between the present application and co-pending applications of applicants, Serial No. 124,416 filed February 6, 1937, and Serial No. 183,599 filed January 6, 1938, to which reference is made.

Various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a shaving device, a shaving head having a top face engaging member provided with a thin free slotted edge, a reciprocable cutter having teeth movable below said free slotted edge of the face engaging-member, anopen frame having one side slotted to form a comb member, and means for securing said frame adjacent the face en-.- gaging member in substantially the plane thereof whereby the side forming the comb is supported means for securing said frame adjacent the face engaging member in substantially the plane thereof whereby the side forming the conib is supported adjacent the free slotted edge of the face engaging member to straighten out and guide hair thereto.

3. In a shaving device, a shaving head having a. top face engaging member provided with a thin free slotted edge, a reciprocable cutter having teeth movable below said free slotted edge of the face engaging member, an open frame having one side forming a guard, and means for securing other sides of said fram closely adjacent the face engaging member in substantially the plane thereof whereby the side forming the guard is supported in advance of and adjacent the free slotted edge of the face engaging member to prevent the teeth of the latter from injuring the face, said other sides of the frame being located adjacent side edges of the face engaging member so that the slotted surface of the latter may directly engage the face to efiect close shaving.

4. In a shaving device, a shaving head having a top face engaging member provided with a thin free slotted edge, a reciprocable cutter having teeth movable below said free slotted edge of the face engaging member, a four-sided open frame having two sides positioned closely adjacent side edges of the face engaging member in substantially the plane thereof so that the forward slotted edge of the latter may directly engage the face to effect close shaving, having another side secured closely adjacent the face engaging member along the rear portion thereof and behind the slotted portion of the face engaging member, and having a fourth side forming a guard and connected at its ends to the forward ends of the two first-mentioned sides of the frame whereby the guard is supported in advance of and adjacent the free slotted edge of the face engaging member to prevent the teeth of the latter from injuring the face, said guard supporting means being thereby positioned to permit cut hair to fall freely to the exterior from below the cutter without interference from said guard' supporting means.

5. In a shaving device, a shaving headhaving a top face engaging member provided with a thin free slotted edge, a reciprocable cutter having teeth movable below said free slotted edge of the face engaging member, a four-sided openframe having two sides positioned closely adjacent side edges of the face engaging member in substantially the plane thereof so that the forward slotted edge of the latter may directly engage the face to effect close shaving, having another side secured closely adjacent the face engaging member along the rear portion thereof and behind the slotted portion of the face engaging member, the

face engaging member being depressed to receive said side of the frame, and having a fourth side forming a guard and connected at its ends to the forward ends of the two first-mentioned sides of the frame whereby the guard is supported in advance of and adjacent the free slotted edge of the face engaging member to prevent the teeth of the latter from injuring the face, said guard supporting means being thereby positioned to permit cut hair to fall freely to the exterior from below the cutter without interference from said guard supporting means.

MATHEW ANDIS. MATTHEW G. ANDIS, JR. 

